Born and raised in Southern Texas, Joe Trevino joined the US Air Force during the Vietnam era and eventually, after receiving a Bachelor’s Degree from Florida State University, he was commissioned a 2 Lt in 1973. After serving in various assignments overseas, to include a tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam, he came to this area in 1980 on his final assignment at the Pentagon as an Air Force officer . He settled in Bowie, Maryland, where he has resided for the past 24 years. He and his wife, Bernice, have raised six children, two girls and four boys. Of the two older boys, David is a County Police Officer in Anne Arundel and Eric, a Federal Law Enforcement Agent with the Justice Department, recently took the Bar Exam in California where he resides with his wife. The two teenage boys attend Bowie High. One daughter (Laura) works in DC and the younger daughter (Elizabeth) will graduate in December 04 from Michigan State.

In 1983, Joe received his Law Degree from American University. He has been admitted to practice in Maryland and DC. He is also admitted in the U.S. District Court of Maryland and DC as well as the US Supreme Court. He considers himself a General Practitioner in his two lawyer, bi-lingual lawfirm in Greenbelt, Maryland, which serves a large segment of the local Spanish community focusing on traffic/criminal, domestic, personal injury, bankruptcy and other areas.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Prince Georges Hospital and also as a Commissioner on the Ethics Board of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC). He served three terms on the Prince Georges County Bar Association Board of Directors. As a co-founder of the MHBA, he served as its President in 1998. He has served in various task forces, committees and commissions, most notably, the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Judicial System and the Prince Georges County Circuit Court Task Force on Accessibility. He was appointed by Governor Schaeffer to serve on the Maryland Commission for Ethnic Heritage where he served from 1985 to 1988. He currently serves as a volunteer mediator in civil litigation in the District Court for Prince Georges County.